To Mr. Alonso S. Perales, President, Committee of One Hundred, From Tom C. Clark, Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice, October 31, 1944.
Item
Dublin Core
Title
To Mr. Alonso S. Perales, President, Committee of One Hundred, From Tom C. Clark, Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice, October 31, 1944.
Subject
LETTERS
CLARK, Tom C. (Tom Campbell), 1899-1977
CIVIL rights--Cases.
RACE discrimination
UNITED States. Department of Justice
PERALES, Alonso S., 1898-1960
UNITED States--Government policy.
UNITED States. Supreme Court.
Description
Letter to Alonso S. Perales from Tom Clark, Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice. Mr. Clark acknowledges the receipt of letter dated October 26, 1944, which included a list of places where Mexicans are discriminated. Tom Clark cites Civil Rights Cases 109 U.S. 3 declaring that the Federal Government has not power to legislate concerning discrimination based on race or national origin by private individuals and private businesses.
Creator
Clark, Tom C.
Source
Date
1944-10-31
Rights
Content compilation of The Latino/Hispanic American Experience Leaders, Writers and Thinkers copyright 2012 by Arte Publico Historical Collections. All rights reserved.
Relation
Format
JPEG
Language
English
Type
Text
Identifier
pera0043
Coverage
WASHINGTON (D.C.)
Scripto
Transcription
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE [LETTERHEAD]
WASHINGTON 25, D.C.
[STAMP] ADDRESS REPLY TO [LEFT TOP CORNER]
"THE ATTORNEY GENERAL"
AND REFER TO INITIALS AND NUMBER
[Underlined] TCC:EB:AEM
[Underlined] 144-012-4
October 31, 1944
Mr. Alonso S. Perales, President
Committee of One Hundred
Suite 714 Gunter Building
San Antonio, Texas
Dear Mr. Perales:
This will acknowledge the receipt of your letter of October 26, 1944, enclosing a list of places where Mexicans are discriminated against in Texas because of their racial origins. In the Civil Rights Cases [Underlined] 109 U.S.#, the Supreme Court declared that the Federal Government had no power to legislate concerning discrimination on grounds of race or national origin by private individuals or private businesses. For that reason, it would not be possible for Congress to pass an act such as you suggest unless the Constitution were amended, and I regret to state that for the same reasons it is not possible for the Department of Justice to take any action in the matter.
Respectfully,
For the Attorney General,
Tom C. Clark
Assistant Attorney General
[Handwritten - Signature diagonal across name and title]
WASHINGTON 25, D.C.
[STAMP] ADDRESS REPLY TO [LEFT TOP CORNER]
"THE ATTORNEY GENERAL"
AND REFER TO INITIALS AND NUMBER
[Underlined] TCC:EB:AEM
[Underlined] 144-012-4
October 31, 1944
Mr. Alonso S. Perales, President
Committee of One Hundred
Suite 714 Gunter Building
San Antonio, Texas
Dear Mr. Perales:
This will acknowledge the receipt of your letter of October 26, 1944, enclosing a list of places where Mexicans are discriminated against in Texas because of their racial origins. In the Civil Rights Cases [Underlined] 109 U.S.#, the Supreme Court declared that the Federal Government had no power to legislate concerning discrimination on grounds of race or national origin by private individuals or private businesses. For that reason, it would not be possible for Congress to pass an act such as you suggest unless the Constitution were amended, and I regret to state that for the same reasons it is not possible for the Department of Justice to take any action in the matter.
Respectfully,
For the Attorney General,
Tom C. Clark
Assistant Attorney General
[Handwritten - Signature diagonal across name and title]
Collection
Citation
Clark, Tom C., “To Mr. Alonso S. Perales, President, Committee of One Hundred, From Tom C. Clark, Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice, October 31, 1944.,” Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage Digital Collections, accessed April 29, 2024, http://usldhrecovery.uh.edu/items/show/251.